Verse 5 says that the King came “mounted on a donkey and on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.” This signifies the meek and lowly state in which the Lord was willing to present Himself. The Lord did not tell His disciples to get a carriage or a wagon, but a donkey and a colt. He did not even choose to ride on a horse, but on a little donkey. I have spent considerable time to find out why the Lord was mounted on a donkey and a colt. Was He riding on the donkey or on the colt? Why did the Lord Jesus need both the donkey and a colt, a baby donkey? The colt must have been a baby donkey because it is called a foal of a beast of burden, and this beast of burden must have been a donkey. The donkey was probably the mother, and the colt was probably her offspring. Both the mother and the offspring worked together to bear the King, for He was mounted on both the donkey and the colt. Perhaps the Lord rode upon the donkey first and shifted to the colt when He was close to the city. Mark and Luke mention only the colt, not the donkey (Mark 11:1-10; Luke 19:29-38), whereas John speaks of a young donkey, a donkey’s colt (John 12:14-15). Thus, the emphasis of the four Gospels seems to be on the colt.
The donkey and the colt together give us an impression of meekness and humility. If the Lord has been mounted only upon a donkey, the impression of meekness would not have been so striking. Suppose a very small sister stands before us holding a tiny baby in her arms. This would give us a deep impression of smallness, for the tiny baby would strengthen the impression of smallness. The significance of the Lord’s riding on a donkey is not smallness, but meekness. The heavenly King came not with haughty splendor, but with gentle, humble meekness. This impression of meekness is strengthened by the colt accompanying a donkey to bear the meek King. The Lord Jesus did not ride into Jerusalem proudly on a horse. He came mounted upon a little donkey, even a small colt. No earthly king would do this. The Lord Jesus seemed to be telling His disciples, “Take the donkey and the little colt. I shall ride upon the beast of burden, but the colt must go along too in order to show My meekness. This will help the people see how meek the heavenly King is.”
The Lord Jesus came not to fight or to compete, but to be a meek King. The presence of the baby donkey testified that the Lord did not care to fight or compete with anyone. Rather, He was humble and meek. I believe that this was the impression the Lord Jesus wanted to convey to the people. Yes, He was the heavenly King, but He had no intention to come as a great King fighting or competing with others. Instead, He came as a meek King who did not fight against anyone or compete with anyone.
In verse 7 we see that the disciples put their garments on the donkey and the colt, and verse 8 says, “And most of the crowd spread their own garments in the road.” Garments signify the human virtues of people’s conduct. The disciples honored the lowly King by putting their garments on the donkey and colt for Him to ride on, and the crowd honored Him by spreading their garments in the road for Him to pass through. The people honored the Lord with their clothing, that is, with whatever they had. No matter how poor a man is, he at least has some clothing with which to cover himself. We need to honor the Lord, the meek King, with whatever we are. No matter what our condition may be, we have something with which to honor Him. I do not believe that the garments put on the donkey and on the road were splendid or beautiful. Nevertheless, the people used what they had. Although we are sinful, pitiful, and even evil, the Lord likes to be honored with what we are. Even sinners can honor the Lord with what they are, if they have a heart to honor Him.
Verse 8 also says, “Others cut branches from the trees and spread them in the road.” The branches are the branches of the palm tree (John 12:13), signifying the victorious life (Rev. 7:9) and the satisfaction of enjoying the rich produce of this life as typified by the feast of tabernacles (Lev. 23:40; Neh. 8:15). The crowd used both their garments and the palm tree branches to celebrate the lowly King’s coming. A palm tree, signifying the victorious life, is rooted deeply in hidden springs and grows prevailingly upward into the air. This signifies the victorious life. In honoring the meek King with whatever they were, the people recognized that He was the One with the victorious life.